"The most important thing we learned during the pandemic is to keep your business model flexible and agile."
Morgan Hancock is a commercial real estate agent, entrepreneur, US ARMY veteran, mother-of-two, bourbonista, and passionate advocate of the arts. She is a charismatic force who can completely capture a room, radiating positivity with a disarming demeanor and sharp sense of humor.
Growing up as an only child in a small town, Morgan spent much of her time alone reading, writing, and creating. With an overactive imagination and natural talent, art became an early passion. Taking an atypical path to her current success, Morgan has never let her context stand in the way of her ambition.
She believes that art, like life, is only limited by your imagination, and it’s up to you to create your own world. Morgan created Bourbon with Heart as a way to leverage the influence and popularity of Bourbon to raise funds, bring awareness, educate, provide better access and deliver a first-class arts experience to every person in Kentucky regardless of age, race, class, gender, or ability.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Morgan Hancock: I’m a commercial real estate agent, entrepreneur, US ARMY veteran, mother-of-two, non-profit founder, bourbonista, and passionate advocate of the arts. Growing up as an only child in a small town in Kentucky, I spent much of my time alone reading, writing, and creating. With an overactive imagination and natural talent, art became an early passion.
Taking an atypical path to my current success, I’ve never let her context stand in the way of my ambition. I believe that art, like life, is only limited by your imagination, and it’s up to us to create our world.
I founded the nonprofit, Bourbon with Heart, as a way to leverage the influence and popularity of Bourbon to raise funds, bring awareness, educate, provide better access, and deliver a first-class arts experience to every person in Kentucky.
2021 and 2022 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2023? What lessons have you learned?
Morgan Hancock: The most important thing we learned during the pandemic is to keep your business model flexible and agile. This means ensuring your team can work remotely and that you can quickly close your brick-and-mortar location while continuing to generate revenue online or through other means.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2023? What advice would you share?
Morgan Hancock: One of the most important lessons I learned from the pandemic is to have multiple revenue streams. Many livelihoods were shattered by the economic effects of the pandemic due to people having all “their eggs in one basket.”
The lesson from this is to better prepare for the future by creating multiple ways to bring in revenue so that when your primary income source is compromised, another source of income can help carry you, even temporarily.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Morgan Hancock: When the pandemic hit, I was having the biggest year in revenue. Within weeks, my sales volume went from the highest it’d ever been to the lowest. I live in Louisville, Kentucky, and 80% of my advertising sales were related to the Kentucky Derby. Unfortunately, the Derby was canceled; consequently, my advertising contracts were too.
This was when I immediately started looking for ways to create multiple revenue streams. So I got my real estate license and started working in commercial real estate. Since then, my advertising sales have bounced back, but I continue selling commercial real estate and several other revenue-producing ventures.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2023?
Morgan Hancock: I don’t think there’s any piece of advice that could have fully prepared anyone for something so unprecedented, but one timeless bit of advice is: never take things for granted.
The pandemic painfully illustrated that everything could change in an instant. Entrepreneurs are constantly seeking bigger and better and are continually unsatisfied but when possible, try to take a moment to be grateful for what you have right now.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2023?
Morgan Hancock: This trend towards remote work and digital collaboration will only continue to grow. Many businesses that could now return to their brick-and-mortar workspaces have yet to do so because they discovered they operate more efficiently online. Digital collaboration is the new normal.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Morgan Hancock: Too many! I spend 8 to 12 hours a day in front of a screen. I’m trying to reduce my screen time by delegating tasks that keep me at my screen, so I can spend more time face-to-face with clients, family, and friends.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Morgan Hancock: Whether it’s real estate, advertising, or non-profit development, I’m always in the sales business, which is very much about storytelling.
I greatly emphasize creative marketing, and video is one of my favorite mediums for telling stories. Video is fun to produce and has the added benefit of the capacity to “go viral.” My team and I have created many unique, creative, and effective marketing videos to tell our story.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Morgan Hancock: The biggest challenge in business right now is finding people who want to work. The Great Resignation is real, and its effects are staggering. Even in my industry, where I hire contractors and freelancers exclusively, finding dependable people available to work within a reasonable time frame is a huge challenge, and supply issues only compound the problem.
In 2023, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Morgan Hancock: I’m focused on mastering the art of public speaking. Over the past year, I’ve had real estate and community-related ventures that allowed me to speak on television, and unfortunately, I realized my public speaking skills were lacking. So, I’m determined to improve in this area.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Morgan Hancock: Great question. I don’t think I’ve met any boss who felt like they are “that” boss, but yet, statically, they likely are.
I don’t know the exact solution to the Great Resignation, but employers must prioritize flexibility. Gone are the rigid 9-5 schedules and in-office environments. There’s been a “power shift” between employers and employees over the past two years. Employers must ensure their employees feel equal if they expect to gain.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Morgan Hancock: I would love to remove ego from any situation. The ego is the biggest obstacle to success for professional teams. It’s true what President Truman said: “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you do not care who gets the credit.”
What does “success” in 2023 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Morgan Hancock: Success to me this year is about becoming more of my authentic self, continuing to find my “tribe,” and creating a life where I get to wake up every day and do what I love. I also want to get to a place where I am secure enough to start pouring myself into others financially and professionally.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Morgan Hancock for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Morgan Hancock or her company, you can do it through her – Instagram
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.
